1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to image manipulation; and more particularly to a method for flattening 3-dimensional images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image manipulation and graphical editing programs have become increasingly popular. These editing environments typically allow for the use of various two dimensional tools (e.g., drawing tools, brush tools, water tools, blurring tools, etc.), effects, and operations for manipulating two dimensional images.
As computing power has increased, the popularity and accessibility of three dimensional models and images have also increased. The graphical editing environments or programs mentioned above have accordingly incorporated the ability to manipulate three dimensional images, e.g., using tools specifically designed for modifying representations of three dimensional objects or models, referred to herein as 3-dimensional (3D) images. However, in order to paint on a 3D object (more generally, in order to apply texture map images to a 3D object), a flattened 2D representation of the object is needed. However, prior art techniques for flattening 3D images are generally complex, computationally expensive, and error prone, or introduce too much distortion.